Making  an evergreen Christmas wreath  is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. It’s festive, smells heavenly, it’s free and simple to make. When I was a little girl I remember going through the woods with my mom looking for running cedar to make our wreath with. We would gather all we could in bags and bring them back home for assembling.

We wrapped the running ivy on a grapevine wreath and then finished it off with a red ribbon and bow. It was so much fun that I decided to take the tradition with me when I got married and it continues to this day.

We have cedar, pine, holly and magnolia trees on our property. This year I made our wreath from magnolia branches. You can choose any evergreen you want, it’s all made the same way. It’s the cheapest wreath you can make after you buy the ribbon the first year. To extend the life of your wreath- after you chop the branches or vines, put the ends in water over night. This will  keep them green for way over a month.

Running cedar- Just in case you wanted to know what it looks like. It grows on the ground like a vine. You pull it up like you would ivy, in long pieces. It takes a lot to make a full wreath.

This is our magnolia tree. The goats love to eat the leaves. Edward, our buck is waiting for me to give him some.

Chop branches off tree

I’ve had this grapevine wreath for 18 years

Stick branch into the wreath-nothing else needed

Keep putting the branches in until it is full–This literally took me less than 10 minutes

I hung it on a wreath hanger– For years I didn’t have one. Dale hammered a nail into top of my door. It poked up ever so slightly– I wrapped thin wire around the nail and hung the wreath by the wire held up by the nail. It worked!

I’ve had my red ribbon for 15 years

Red bow comes next